'In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria.'

Unknown

Partoun, Utah, North America
2012

1st November 1923
M.

To be honest, I doe not believe that M- I, um Six would have gotten themselves involed.
They generally shy away from the concept of aleins, instead calling us up anytime a case gets too... 'out there' for them.
I am stil trying to search through T. Wood's databass, although it seams as though they've recently upgraded their securety and it's taking me a little longer than usual to crack through.
I wil keep you update with my progress and inform you the moment I have regained access.

Y.

Fingers idly tapped a repetitive four/four beat upon the top of a wooden table, the rhythmic sound echoing softly throughout the dimly lit bar even as the green eyes of their owner scanned the missive in his hand once more.

Raven brows were soon to furrow however, the words dancing before the man's eyes as he contemplated each one before turning his gaze to the newspaper that had accompanied the letter.

...doe not believe that M- I, um Six would have gotten themselves involed...

...aleins...

...stil trying to search through T. Wood's databass...

...seams as though they've recently upgraded their securety...

...wil keep you update...

The consistent drumming of his fingers came to a halt, and the frown drawing Thade's dark brows together was soon to appear on his lips as he watched the continued loop on the outdated Prophet play over and over again. He picked up the almost crystal glass sitting by his elbow and downed the remaining amber contents in a single swallow, a sharp hiss escaping his lips as the fiery burn of whiskey warmed him from within and briefly soothed his growing unease.

...do not believe MI6...

...involved...

...aliens...

...still trying to search...

...Torchwood...

...upgraded their security...

...will keep you updated...

The man placed the glass back onto the table, an almost silent sigh passing his lips as he ran a hand through his hair. He dropped the letter facedown atop the paper, covering the scene depicted on its front and the words printed on the missive as a finger moved to absentmindedly trace the rune branded on the inside of his left wrist. The digit followed the path of the ankh's ( ) cross before looping at its top while he let idle thoughts to cross his mind; questions and theories that he'd had for far too long running through his grey-matter.

However, and as a pulse of power surged through him upon the completion of tracing the hieroglyph, Thade glanced towards the numbers that had appeared like a hologram above the ankh, and a smirk was soon to appear on his lips.

Time, it seemed, was still on his side, and the man knew he had all the patience in the world to execute his plans. And with a glance back to the papers in front of him, the blacket couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation building within him. The words on the pages may have once brought him a sense of loss and discomfort; confusion and anger. But now they held the promise of intriguing opportunity, and Thade relished in the challenge they now presented him with.

He knew that he'd have to be cautious, however; to play his cards right and keep his true intentions hidden. Although Thade also knew that he now had an ace up his sleeve - and he couldn't stop his smirk from widening at the thought.

Aion had been so easy to recruit; jittery, paranoid, and utterly eager to get out of dodge and escape the chaos he believed he'd unwitting unleased at A.D.R. Industries. The poor kid was terrified by the consequences his actions, and he'd accepted the advice and aide given without question; had taken the way out that Thade offered him after the man 'accidently' stumbled across his monstrous alter-ego finishing off poor, dear Adam. Thade had promised to keep his secrets and help him find a way to control his strange powers - and Aion had eaten up each word; hook, line, and sinker.

It was all complete and utter shit, of course; a manipulation entirely upon Thade's part. But he didn't care. Aion was a means to an end for the man, nothing more than a pawn in his grand plan, and he would do anything to ensure that the blond stayed exactly at his side and where he needed him to be.

Thade had no intentions of helping Aion seal away Mors.

If anything, the man hoped to release the monster within the watch; and he had all the evidence before him to say that goal was utterly and completely within his grasp.

Closing his eyes, Thade leaned back in his seat as he allowed himself a moment to bask in the glory of his recent victory, the noise of the bar filling his sense. He really couldn't believe how lucky he'd been, to have found out that a mere slip of a human had managed to do what the Demons of the Stygian Abyss - what his own father had been trying to do for centuries. And then, as if he'd been born under a lucky star, that very same human had then fallen straight into his hands.

It had to be more than just luck, though. Something more akin to, say... destiny. The chances of Adam, Aion, and Thade all being at the same place at the same time - and on the same day...

"Master Thaddeus?"

A voice broke through Thade's contemplations and the man's eyes snapped open. He swiftly placed a hand on the papers before him, picking them up and stashing them away in an inner pocket of his jacket; a grimace tugging at his lips for his foolishness for having such an item out on display as he turned his attention to the speaker.

Though the man blinked, surprise raising his raven brows if by a fraction when he saw a young waitress standing beside his table, an apologetic smile upon her lips for disturbing him even as she placed a marked napkin onto his table.

"Sorry for interrupting, sir," the girl continued, a glass following the serviette and covering what had been written on it before she straightened. "But, your refill."

"It's Thade," he corrected, his tone tinged with confused annoyance as his gaze flickered to the drink. "And, I didn't order that," he added with a growing frown.

"Of course not, Master Thade," the waitress conceded, her answer drawing Thade's eyes back to her. Her smile grew more friendly, and with a glance and a not towards the direction of the bar, she added, "It's on the house."

Curiosity got the better of him and Thade followed the direction of the woman's gaze. An eyebrow was once again rising on his forehead, intrigue colouring his vision as they connected with a pair of piercing orange-brown orbs. There was a knowing glint within their depths, and Thade watched as a smirk pulled at their owner's lips, the redhead raising his own glass before taking a swig of the contents.

He blinked in momentary confusion before a slow smirk begun to appear on his own lips, and Thade inclined his head in the man's direction before addressing the waitress despite barely sparing her a glance. "If you'll excuse me," he told the young woman as he stood, his chair scraping across the wooden floor of the bar, And with the glass in one hand, he snatched the marked serviette from the table before making his way over to the bar.

Partoun, Utah, North America
Nile and Aion's Hotel Room

It was a chaotic scene of scattered clothes and belongings as Aion continued to frantically stuff his possessions into a bag. His hands trembled, heart but a pounding drum within his chest; a constant reminder of the fear that gripped at him. He couldn't shake the horrifying images from his work, the feeling of dark power coursing through his veins, the complete and utter terror he'd caused.

Aion couldn't believe what he'd done, all that destruction, the chaos, but more importantly, all the deaths.

"Gods, what have I done?" the young man muttered to himself, his voice shaky as he slumped backwards onto the floor, trying to supress the panic and grief that threatened to overwhelm him. His only reprieve in this whole damnable mess had been the arrival of Thade, the man having managed to stop him before he'd done or killed any more.

The thought of how Thade, someone that Aion had never seen before, had managed to stop his more monstrous side never did cross the young man's mind. Instead it was racing with questions and possibilities on the location of his currently missing boyfriend, Nile; about whether or not the man was safe, and if he had encountered his alter-ego. The guilt was but a gnawing pit within his stomach, the thought - the knowledge that he could have possibly endangered his partner's life and sanity eating away at him far more than anything else that Aion believed he'd done that night.

"I hope you didn't try and stop me," the young man whispered, barely supressing a whimper at the thought of Nile doing exactly that and coming to harm because of him - again.

The sun glinted off the surface of the old fob watch in just a way that it made the sparrow engraved on its outer casing shine with an almost golden light. And as Aion ran his thumb over the warming surface of the timepiece, the ten-year-old couldn't help but feel a sense of unease wash over him.

The watch had been something that he'd had for as long as he could remember, traversing with him through every stage of his childhood; from his first years when he'd grown up with the love and support of his parents, the accident that had left him alone in the world, being dumped at the doors of an orphanage, his adoption not a year later and his adjustment to having parents again, and then - when they'd found out just how different he was to the other boys - being dumped at some prestigious boarding school like they were doing him some sort of favour.

It really had been his only constant companion, he realised. Though the comprehension did little to ease the ten-year-old's growing discomfort; his lips pursing as he continued to watch his finger move over the timepiece's bronzed outer casing in an almost trance-like state. His parents had left him, and their replacements had decided to just up and dump him somewhere they didn't have to deal with his freakish ways of thinking.

However, and despite the boy's rush of mixed emotions, that old irritation and indignation chasing after the most recent influx of unease and tension through his system, a smirk tugged at the corner of Aion's lips. If only they could see me now, he thought, the idea of his adopted family actually making the effort to come out and see him and find that all their efforts to 'fix' him had backfired - and utterly spectacularly, as well.

"Hey, Sparrow?"

Suddenly, the peaceful afternoon was shattered as a shadow fell over Aion's form, the presence of a bigger and far older boy causing the ten-year-old to shrink back in his seat and clutch his watch closer to his person.

"What's that you got there? A little keepsake from your mamma?" Marcus taunted and Aion couldn't stop himself from flinching, fear now chasing his building sense of unease and completely flushing out his anger and irritation to leave him with nothing but trembling nerves. Marcus was known throughout the school for his harrying ways, and Aion had the displeasure of encountering the boy far more often then he would have wished upon anyone; Marcus seemingly having targeted him out from the rest of the students.

"None of your business," Aion replied, trying to sound brave despite the tremble in his voice. And he was quick to try and tuck his watch away, not wanting to even think of what Marcus would do if he managed to get his hands on it.

But Marcus was relentless, and he struck out, his hand wrapping tightly around Aion's wrist and causing the boy to cry out in pain.

"Hey, no! Let me go!" Aion begun to struggle, trying to both get out of Marcus' grip and keep his watch in his possession as the older boy's free hand tried to snatch it from him.

"Give it!" Marcus growled, his grip only tightening around Aion's wrist until the ten-year-old felt the bones grind together.

"Hey! Let him go!" another voice called out from somewhere behind Marcus, but Aion couldn't tell who it was, the pressure around his wrist and urge to keep possession of his watch taking all of his focus.

"No! It's min-OW!" he cried out as his head snapped to the side; Marcus having decided that their little game of tug-a-war was getting boring and went for the offensive, punching Aion in the jaw. And Aion recoiled, almost falling from his seat as pain blossomed through his jaw and face. His grip on the fob watch slackened, allowing Marcus to take it, and Aion found he could do nothing but clutch at his jaw as he watched the bully leave; his heart broken and his mind stunned.

"Ai-Aion, are you okay?"

It had been so sudden and unexpected that had he not been staring at Marcus and completely ignoring the person trying to see if he was okay, Aion probably would have killed Nile. But as it was, it was as if a gun had gone off, an explosion within the ten-year-old's mind as he watched a golden coin fall from his fob watch as Marcus opened the timepiece in his hasty departure and hit the ground.

Everything went black for Aion in that moment, an inexplicable rage consuming him, and the world blurred around him. His anger and desperation reached a boiling point - and something within him snapped; a sudden surge of energy shooting through his body. It was as if an invisible force was suddenly released, surging through him and compelling... something to happen.

Aion's heart pounded within his chest, an echo of its thunderous rhythm beating in his ears. And his breaths began to come out in ragged gasps, his body beginning to convulse.

"Aion! No, you need to stop! You need to calm down!"

The words were but a distant rumble as bones shifted and snapped, an intense burning pain spreading its way through Aion's body. It was excruciating, and the ten-year-old was terrified by what was happening as he felt his skin stretch to an uncomfortable tightness before suddenly tearing; a pressure building within his head as his face begun to reform. And a half-shout, half-roar of pain escaped him as his jaw broke, elongating into a snout. His dull human teeth were pushed out, pointed fangs replacing them as his vision seemed to double.

Clothes tore and shredded as his body grew larger; an oily, inky substance seeping from the tears in his flesh and hardening while hands and feet transformed into powerful paws, his fingers merging and fusing to form talon-like claws. Aion's whole frame bulged with a newfound strength and power, and a wildness begun to creep its way into his mind.

The boy struggled to comprehend what was happening, having no idea or control over what his body was doing as it continued to transform. Yet, even in the state he was in, the pain coursing its way through his body as it continued to shift and change, remnants of Aion's human consciousness continued to fight to maintain some semblance of control.

But as his transformation reached its peak, Aion's mind became a whirlwind of emotions and instincts. He felt rage, fear, and confusion all swirling together with the instincts to hunt, stalk, and kill and making it all but impossible to distinguish between his human emotions and his new-found animalistic instincts. His vision was a blur, a hazy mix of colours and shapes as his brain tried to adjust to the four eyes he now seemed to possess. Though as he felt the pain receding and his body's changes seeming to settle, the dark energy coursing through his veins and animalistic instincts calming into that of a more patiently waiting hunter, Aion's vision seemed to zero in on the retreating form of Marcus - of the watch that was in the boy's hand.

"Mors, no!"

His senses were heightened, and he could feel a power he'd never felt before coursing its way through his muscles. The rage that had fuelled his transformation was still present, but as Aion continued to stare after the boy who had taken his watch, it was all directed on Marcus. And with a low, warning grow, Aion threw of Nile as he lunged at the bully, who stumbled in shock at seeing what was now after him.

Marcus' eyes were wide with terror as he turned to face the monster-pup that ten-year-old Aion had become, barely managing to stay upright as he tripped over his own feet in his haste. If he had any idea that the boy he'd just bullied had become the monstrous creature before him, Marcus was unable to say anything as he became paralysed with fear.

"Duck!"

A growl of frustration escaped Aion as he found his prey no longer before him, another boy having tackled Marcus to the ground and out of the way of his dagger-like claws.

"Marcus, you idiot! Run!" the bully's saviour shouted as the pair scrambled to their feet, the newcomer giving the bully a shove even as he managed to take the watch from his hand. And it took Aion a moment to realise what the kid had done, his four eyes tracking Marcus before noticing the target of his rage no longer held what was not his to possess.

"Over here, you lug!"

THWACK!

A snarl escaped Aion as he spun on the spot, his jaws snapping shut in threat as the irritating pain from a rock glancing off the back of his head had him refocusing his attention on Marcus' saviour. Though a head of wild red hair filled his duplicated vision and momentarily confused him.

"Come on, Mors. Why don't you pick on someone your own size?!" Nile taunted as he tossed another rock at Aion before he suddenly turned on his heel and ran in the opposite direction Marcus had disappeared in.

Pain was but an irritant as the rock glanced off his shoulder, Aion's four eyes filled with a confused fury as he watched the boy depart. He wanted to chase after the redhead, to hurt him and make him pay for touching what was not his; sunlight glinting off the bronzed fob watch Nile now possessed. But a part of Aion also felt the inexplicable need to protect Nile; that he knew to hurt the redheaded boy would only lead to more pain and regret than he ever wanted to feel - or was currently feeling.

Whatever Aion was currently feeling at that moment, however, the second that Nile turned to face him once more, fob watch in one hand and golden coin in the other, the beast that the ten-year-old had become overwhelmed his mind and scattered his thoughts with a primal and mighty raw; no longer able to differentiate friend from foe as Nile's thumb continued to run over the surface of the coin.

"That's it... Come and get it," the boy said as he begun to back away from Aion, clearly wanting to keep the monstrous pup's attention solely locked onto him. Though he barely had time to dodge to the side and avoid Aion when he lunged, jaws snapping closed around empty air and just missing the arm of which held the coin.

Before Aion could turn and launch himself at Nile again, something collided into his side and pain bloomed up his left foreleg as it felt as though he'd been stabbed multiple times, but all at the same time. His vision distorted as he tumbled and rolled to the ground, filled with claws, fur, fangs, and-

Aion stirred, a groan escaping him as he felt utterly drained and a throbbing pain down his side. Memories swam within his mind, of Marcus taking his watch and him getting angry, of him wanting to harm Marcus. But thinking hurt and the ten-year-old seemed to already have enough pain to deal with upon his return to the land of consciousness.

As he rolled over in bed however, his eyes fluttering open when the mattress beneath him felt far more comfortable than the ones he knew his school possessed, Aion knew something was wrong when it wasn't his dorm that he saw, but the white wall of a hospital.

A stone begun to settle in his gut, a sinking feeling that he had done something terrible causing his stomach to roll, and he almost fell out of bed when a voice spoke up from behind him.

"Oh, hey. You're finally awake."

Aion froze.

He knew that voice.

"Over here, you lug!"

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?!"

Oh, gosh! What had he done?!

"Aion? Are you okay?" Nile continued, the boy's voice growing concerned as he picked up the tell-tale signs of sobbing.

"W-what did I d-do?"

Nile moved closer to Aion's beside, his face etched with concern. "It's okay, buddy. You didn't mean to do it," he said gently. "Marcus, he shouldn't have taken your watch."

Aion tried to wiped at his tears, blinking at the cast when it bumped his nose and caused a peculiar feeling to shoot up his arm. He changed hands, sniffling as he looked up to his friend who was sporting a few bruises, scratches, and bandages of his own, and felt his heart sink even further.

"B-but I hurt you, didn't I?" he asked, his voice trembling with the fear and guilt of what he already knew Nile was about to say.

Nile, however, shook his head, momentarily confusing Aion. "Yeah, you did," he confirmed, causing his friend's confusion to only grow as a small smile appeared on his lips. "But it wasn't you, Aion. It was... well, I don't know what it was. But I know that neither you nor Mors would ever intentionally hurt me," he reassured his friend.

Aion took a deep breath, trying to gather his thoughts and process everything that had happened. But everything was a blur, his memory fragmented with flashes of rage and hatred and the need to tear Marcus apar-

"I'm scared, Nile," Aion admitted as he curled into a ball on the bed, his form seeming so much smaller than it was on the larger frame. And as guilt, anxiety, and fear chased its way through his system, the machine tracking the rhythm of his heart begun to quicken, picking up his frightening thoughts. "Wh-what if I k-" he swallowed, his good arm wrapping itself around his legs, "What if I hurt him?"

Nile placed his hand gently onto his friend's shoulder, not wanting to startle Aion as he tried to offer some sort of comfort to the clearly distressed blonde. "Hey, we'll figure this out together, okay? You're not alone in this," he said, his voice filled with a clear and firm sincerity. "We'll find a way to control Mors, and I promise, we won't let anything bad happen to Marcus or anyone else. You're my best friend, Aion, and I'll always be here for you."

"You're a fool, Aion," the young man hissed to himself, frustration and self-hatred evident in his tone as he forcefully threw a pair of jeans into his bag. In that moment, Aion hated his life, despised his damnable alter-ego, and feared for his partner's safety with every beat of his racing heart. The mere thought of having possibly hurt his best friend, the one person who had at his side through thick and thin, was utterly inconceivable and completely unbearable.

He longed to go and find Nile, to make certain that the man was safe and explain everything that had transpired. But Aion had no idea where he would even begin to search, knowing that returning to his work was completely out of the question. And Thade's words of caution continued to ring in his ears, lingering in his mind and reminding him that time wasn't on their side, and the sooner they got out of Partoun the better.

As much as he wanted to drop everything and search for Nile, Aion knew that Thade held the key to stopping the monstrous alter-ego that threatened to harm those he held dear. It was a painful dilemma, torn between his love for his partner and the responsibility he felt to prevent Mors from causing more harm. But taking a deep breath, Aion reminded himself stopping Mors was the first step towards protecting Nile.

If he could put an end to his monster, then he could focus on reuniting with his love.